Following up on our initial report of Villanova Basketball's Summer Tour of Europe, the school has issued the following release. It notes that in addition to playing three games in Amsterdam against the National Teams of Israel, Georgia, and the Netherlands, they will play another pair of exhibitions in France & Luxembourg for a total of five exhibitions.
All returning players and the five incoming freshman will be eligible to play.
Release
For the first time in a decade, the Villanova men’s basketball team is headed to Europe. The Wildcats, who made their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010-11, will travel to France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands from Aug. 7-16 and are slated to play five exhibition games as part of the tour, it was announced today.
Villanova’s most recent visit to Europe came in August of 2001 when the Wildcats toured Italy. The ‘Cats also took a trip to play exhibition games in Ottawa over Labor Day weekend in 2007.
"We’re very excited to have this opportunity to travel to Europe as a basketball family," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "This will be our third international trip since we returned to Villanova and both of our previous trips to Italy and Canada were extremely valuable to the development of our young men on and off the court. This trip will give us a chance to grow together as a team and experience the culture of some amazing cities."
The official team traveling party will depart Philadelphia on Aug. 7 for Paris. The Wildcats are slated to spend four days in France and Luxembourg. There will also be a pair of exhibition games played against opponents which have yet to be announced.
On Aug. 11, the Wildcats move on to Amsterdam, where they are scheduled to play three games on successive dates. On Aug. 12 Villanova is set to face the national team of Israel followed by contests against the national teams of Georgia (Aug. 13) and the Netherlands (Aug. 14).
The official package to follow the Wildcats to Europe is being offered by Anthony Travel. This tour departs Aug. 10 for Paris and includes five nights hotel accommodations, tickets for the three games in Amsterdam along with ground transportation and a welcome dinner along with a farewell banquet. For more information, please contact Anthony Travel via a link at http://www.anthonytravel.com/event/villanova-netherlands/ or by telephone at (866) 913-7169.
"We hope that members of the Nova Nation will consider spending part of their summer vacation with the Wildcats in Europe," added Wright.
Villanova returns two starters from its 21-12 club in 2011-12, guard Maalik Wayns and center Mouphtaou Yarou. Also returning in 2011-12 are holdovers Isaiah Armwood, James Bell, Dominic Cheek and Maurice Sutton. Also eligible by NCAA rules for this trip are the five players who will be Villanova freshmen in 2011-12.